The new “experiential entertainment” venue Group Therapy Pub & Playground is opening its doors June 17 inside the Camperdown development at 320 Falls St.
The 19,000-square-foot venue of ground-floor retail space, the largest single retail spot in downtown Greenville, has been transformed over the last few months into a new indoor entertainment venue that combines multiple individual concepts under one roof.
- Food
- A full service bar + 30 self-serve beer taps
- Miniature golf
- Ax throwing
- Ice Curling
- Table tennis
- Trivia
- Karaoke
- Live music and more
Here’s a quick tour of what the space will look like when it opens to the public next month.
The pub is the first thing you’ll see.
Near the entrance will be the pub area, with a large stage for live music. Closest to the doors will be a beer tap wall, familiar to those who’ve frequented Pour or Hoppin’, which will offer 30 self-serve beers, wines and seltzers. Beyond the beer tap wall will be a 30-foot-long bar, specializing in cocktails.
“Without the burden of pouring beers, [bartenders] be able to focus on cocktails much more easily and quickly,” said Matt Hubbard, who is opening the concept along with his partners Dustin Pelletier and John Cox. And the idea is to serve until 2 a.m., now that the city has signed off on the special exemption for operating hours.
Plus the full-service kitchen.
To the right of the bar will be a walk-up kitchen where diners place their orders, give their phone numbers, and receive a text when the food is ready. Roaming servers — called “therapists” and “counselors” — will take and deliver orders, too.
Keep walking past the kitchen, and you’ll find VIP rooms and corporate event spaces.
“I’m honestly really excited about these corporate rooms,” Hubbard said. “We want to be a space for a team to come in, talk about trust, transparency and blindspots. We’ll be partnering with Catapult to come in and lead those discussions because we think having fun breeds creativity.”
Ax-throwing, anyone?
On the other side of the space will be an ax-throwing venue with its own lounge, an ice curling spot and the miniature golf course, which starts with its own “pro shop.”
“I really figured out what to put in this space by approaching and seeing what is out there now,” he said. “This is the first time a concept like this has been brought together, all activities in one space.”
For Hubbard, whose day job is designing indoor adventure parks, the plan for the space is not only to offer “group therapy” in the form of games, drinks and food — he also wants to take the name literally, by connecting with local mental health advocacy groups.
“We want to give back and focus on mental health awareness,” Hubbard said. “Partnering with local organizations and doing fundraiser events and hopefully supporting them directly and in different ways, based on their needs, is something we’re really invested in.”
